Perhaps the fault lies not within himself, but in Wikipedia, since Hyndman has been coaching Southern Methodist since God was a boy. He, um, didn't actually win an NCAA title, but then, neither did Steve Sampson...wait, never mind. He has turned out a few serviceable professional players - Colin Clark, Ugo Ihemelu, and Daniel Hernandez are probably the most well-known.

If you're like me, you probably followed this story from 3rd Degree - they seem pretty underwhelmed by the hire, as do our our fellow posters - unless, of course, they're too busy dancing in the streets of Frisco to get to a computer and post.

Jeff Carlton of the AP tells me, and anyone who cares to read, that Hyndman is only the third MLS coach to make the jump from the NCAA, which is a tiny bit surprising. Sounds like a job for the MLS all-time coaching register!

Sorry, I thought such a thing existed. Well, in Columbus history, Tom Fitzgerald and Greg Andrulis made the jump from college coach to MLS assistant coach. And that is pretty much it, as far as recruiting coaches. Where do MLS coaches come from? Well, see if you can spot a pattern:

Steve Nicol - former MLS assistant, former professional player (until this year, arguably the best player ever among MLS coaches)
Denis Hamlett - former MLS assistant, former MLS player
Juan Carlos Osorio - former MLS assistant, former professional player
Sigi Schmid - had all the talent in the world at UCLA for a hundred years, and won the title twice or something weak like that
Tom Soehn - former MLS assistant, former MLS player
Curt Onalfo - former MLS assistant, former MLS player
John Carver - former Luton Town assistant, former Cardiff City player - speaking of incredibly unpromising resumes

Ruud Gullit - poet and scholar
Fernando Clavijo - former MLS assistant, former professional player - the only one of these guys in the Hall of Fame
Jason Kreis - former MLS player
Preki - former MLS assistant, former MLS player
Dominic Kinnear - former MLS assistant, former MLS player
Frank Yallop - retread (also, and stop me if you've heard this one, former MLS assistant, former MLS player)

and Schellas Hyndman. Hyndman joins Schmid, Carver and Gullit (EDIT -and Kreis) as the only coaches who were never someone's assistant in MLS, and (I think) he and Schmid are the only coaches who have never been paid to play the game.

If I also recall correctly, Hyndman was on the very very shortlist when Colin Clarke was hired (the Northern Irishman, not Hyndman's former Mustang, of course) - but wanted too much money. Or didn't want to leave a safe job. Again, very reminiscent of the extended courting the Galaxy went through with Sigi Schmid back in the day.

Is it a good hire? Probably. It's a much less risky hire than, say, Jason Kreis was. Much has been made of the huge leap between NCAA and MLS for players, but the other two college boys picked to run MLS teams both have won championships. And Hyndman has a pretty easy act to follow.

But then, I'm one of those guys who thinks Dallas never should have fired Dave Dir in the first place.